What color are my cats?

I think the male is called a Brown spotted tabby with white (you can't see but he has white paws and a white underneath).




And I think the girl is called a Blue mackeral tabby with white (she also has white paws and white underneath).



They are brother and sister.

Actually I was wondering the same thing with my rescued kitten... He looks similar to one of your cats. I think the coloring is called brown mackerel tabby with white, but now his stripes are starting to turn into spots so maybe he should be called a spotted tabby? He's not very brown, but that was the only color that was close to his coloration...


He used to be striped:
(photo at about 6-7 weeks old)



Now, there are quite a few spots:
(photo taken today, about 14 weeks old):

He looks very brown in that picture. So judging from the site I've been looking at he would also be a spotted brown tabby with white.

Yeah, that's probably not the best photo to show his coat coloring even though it shows the spotting well... I had to adjust the photo for brightness/contrast so it altered his color a bit. His coloring between the black stripes is more of a cream/greyish color than brown.

He's a brown mackeral tabby. While he appears to have spots, its probably more of the mackeral stripes that broke up. Not a true spotted tabby like in an Ocicat or Bengal.

according the site I was looking at, even spots that look like broken mackeral stripes would be called "spotted".

This is from the site and explains why they are called mackeral or spotted and why they are called brown:

1. Tabbies
If your cat has stripes, it is a "tabby." (Some people call these "tiger cats.") All tabbies have thin pencil lines on the face, expressive markings around the eyes, and a tabby "M" on the forehead. If you look up close at the light parts of a tabby's coat, you will see that the individual hairs are striped with alternating light and dark bands, like the fur of a rabbit or a squirrel. This banding is called "agouti." Tabby is thought to be the "wild type" (the original color) of domesticated cats.
There are four different tabby patterns:

A "mackerel tabby" has narrow stripes that run in parallel down its sides. This is what some people refer to as a "tiger."
A "classic tabby" cat has bold, swirling patterns on its sides like marble cake. This color is called "blotched tabby" in the UK.
A "spotted tabby" has spots all over its sides. Sometimes these are large spots, sometimes small spots, and sometimes they appear to be broken mackerel stripes.
A "ticked tabby" (sometimes called "Abyssinian tabby" or "agouti tabby") does not have stripes or spots on its body. However, like all tabbies, it has tabby markings on the face and agouti hairs on the body. This is the color of the Abyssinian cat, but it also appears in non-purebreds and does not mean the cat is Abyssinian.
Tabbies come in many different colors. You can tell what color a tabby is by looking at the color of its stripes and its tail tip. The color of the agouti hairs (the "ground color") may vary tremendously from cat to cat, some cats may have a washed out gray ground color and others will have rich orange tones.
A "brown tabby" has black stripes on a brownish or grayish ground color. The black stripes may be coal black, or a little bit brownish.
A "blue tabby" has gray stripes on a grayish or buff ground color. The gray stripes may be a dark slate gray, or a lighter blue-gray.
A "red tabby" has orange stripes on a cream ground color. The orange stripes may be dark reddish orange, or light "marmalade" orange.
A "cream tabby" has cream stripes on a pale cream ground color. These stripes look sand-colored or peach-colored rather than orange.
A "silver tabby" has black stripes on a white ground color. The roots of the hairs are white. You can also have a blue silver, cream silver, or red silver tabby (red silver is also known as "cameo tabby") depending on the color of the stripes. In all cases, silver tabbies have a pale ground color and white roots. To make sure, part the hairs and look at the roots.

Originally Posted by jaycee

according the site I was looking at, even spots that look like broken mackeral stripes would be called "spotted".

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There are different opinions on that matter. I believe it's a spotted cat if there aren't stripes. I don't care if it might be broken stripes. Stripes are stripes, if it ain't stripes it's not mackerel tabby. That's my policy. Why? Simply because spotted patterna rarely becomes good unless you breed for it. If you don't aim to get good spots, you probably won't get good spots. Domestics or breeds where you don't breed for color/pattern can't be compared to breeds where the colors and patterns are extremely important. Of course Ocicats will have better spots than any domestic, Ocicats are bred to have really good spots. Same thing goes for spotted British Shorthairs, American Shorthairs or any other breed where pattern and color is considered very important.

I'd surely call the first kitten in this thread a brown spotted tabby with white.

Thanks Sol, do you know if I got the 2nd kitten right?

Originally Posted by jaycee

Thanks Sol, do you know if I got the 2nd kitten right?

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It's hard to say by that picure.

I suppose you could call the brown tabby "spotted" The blue definately is a mackeral tabby.

Originally Posted by jaycee

He looks very brown in that picture. So judging from the site I've been looking at he would also be a spotted brown tabby with white.

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

He's a brown mackeral tabby. While he appears to have spots, its probably more of the mackeral stripes that broke up. Not a true spotted tabby like in an Ocicat or Bengal.

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I reserve the right to comment on what kind of brown tabby he is until I see the other side of him!

Oooops, I'm taking about the cat in post #2!

Hmmm good thought If he's more mackeral on one side then the other, he's a mac tabby with broken spots Never thought of that.